Since leaving America August 2006, I have traveled to sixteen countries. A great deal has happened. This site is to share my thoughts, photos, music, writings, travel experiences, and developing political/social commentary with you. I hope you find it interesting and informative.
Let me be clear about something here. When I talk about militarizing the
police, I'm not just referring to equipment. I'm talking about a
mentality __ a world view.
Militarizing anyone is a tough, convoluted process. As they grow up, even if boys
are taught to be boys, they are also taught to love thy neighbor, be
respectful of human life, thou shalt not kill, and so on. Then when
taken into the military, everything is turned upside down and they are
told: Okay, now forget about all of that, at least with respect to some
subset of the human race __ the Japs, the Nazis, the Arabs, the Gooks,
whoever. They are told that none of those old rules of kindness, even
God's sacred commandments, don't apply. Those people over there
are your enemies. You will show them no respect, no mercy, in fact, you
are to destroy them, kill them without hesitation or remorse. And if
you do a good job of slaughtering them, you will be lauded, decorated
with medals, become a national hero, the object of admiration and
praise. Chicks will dig you.
Okay . . .
What happens when the police start seeing themselves as an extension of the
military, here not to protect and serve, issue the occasional traffic
violation, give talks to kids in school about being good citizens, but
to PROTECT THE HOMELAND against THEM?
And thenwhat happens, when the average American citizen comes under suspicion?
Suspicion of being a misfit, a troublemaker, a dissident, a traitor? Of
not being "with us" but "against us"? Of being a commie-sympathizer, a
towelhead, a jihadist? What happens when databases are being kept of
potential threats, of people who allegedly fit some profile of being a
terrorist, lists of citizens who allegedly fail to fall in line, and may
well be trying to undermine our great country, sabotage the government,
destroy the land of the brave, home of the free?What happens when the public is now seen as the potential enemy?
That's the kind of militarization of the police we most have to fear.Because here's what you get . . .
Enough
said. I don't want to be accused of being a fear monger or some
wild-eyed Chicken Little paranoid. There's more than enough of that
going on already. But we've all been put on notice. The signs are there
and we've been given fair warning.
Given how
far along I believe the militarization of the police has already
progressed, what is the government __ both the law enforcement branches
and many agencies who provide non-security related services like the
Social Security Administration and postal service __ preparing for? Social order breaks down when people become desperate or angry.When they are both desperate and angry, the doors for massive insurrection swing wide open.What could precipitate such catastrophic and violent breakdown of our society?
In my
view, there are a number of scenarios which are not entirely out of the
question __ some say they are likely __ which could drive desperation
and anger. These are, I might note, what the government think tanks themselves say they're worried about.
The abandonment of the dollar
as the world's reserve currency or machinations by private banking and
investment resulting in the complete collapse of the American economy.
The foundering of delivery mechanisms or severe interruption of the supply chains for the critical necessities for survival: food, water, electricity, heating oil, natural gas, gasoline.
World War III or any far-reaching global conflict precipitating any of the above.
The U.S. dollar as the reserve currency is already under assault. We have become grossly irresponsible and abused the enormous privileges we enjoyed for decades. Now the BRICS and several other nations are trying to get out from under the oppressive thumb of the U.S. banking cartels.
The supply chains for food
and other necessities are long and fragile. It has been claimed, for
example, that if the trucks, boats, planes and trains supplying the
supermarket were to somehow be compromised, the shelves would be
completely empty in just a few day. Then what? Hunger is a virulent and
uncompromising enemy of social order.
The
government has created such a vast pool of fear and paranoia, people
have armed themselves to the teeth. Back in the 90s, the police beating
of Rodney King set off huge riots across the country. Those were much
calmer days than we have now post-911. With the grotesque polarization of the population
on a vast array of issues, the U.S. has become a tinderbox. It's hard
to predict what the spark might be that will set it all off. But it sure
doesn't take a Nostradamus to see what's coming.
With Syria, Iran, the Ukraine, the encirclement of Russia and China
by the U.S. military, it is obvious to anyone looking that there's a
psychotic rogue element within the architecture of the U.S. government
that is itching for a war. When it happens, with economies across the landscape on the brink of collapse
and the fragile balance of peace in the world ready to shatter, this
will mean conflagration and chaos like never before in history. If
America in the midst of this insanity, were to go nuclear __ and yes, my
friends, there are plans
for it __ even if there's no sizable retaliation and we survive, the
U.S. will become a leprous pariah in the international community.
However you stack it up, if we continue on our present course and are
the instigator of a major war, America will end up bankrupt, scorned,
isolated __ a pathetic shell of a once glorious nation.
Though you
wouldn't know it, with all of the "exceptionalist" blather and
chest-beating jingoism that passes for patriotism in the media and spews
from the pulpits of political power, America is widely resented,
feared, despised. When the rest of the world can't handle any more of
our belligerence and turns on us, it won't end well. We'll go down
kicking, screaming, throwing an epic tantrum.
That's how federal agencies responsible now for civil order see things.
That's what the local police are being militarized for.
That's what they are preparing for.
[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
Killed by self-appointed judge-jury-executioner police, pumped up on power, their
inflated sense of duty, their skewed sense of justice, unrestrained by
many time-honored legal and constitutional mechanisms, which used to
make America a safe and desirable place to live.
People who don't end up dead are victimized in other ways. From a chilling but excellent article in the Huffington Post . . .
"The latest incident comes out of Atlanta, Georgia, where a SWAT team, attempting to execute a no-knock drug warrant in the middle of the night, launched a flash bang grenade into the targeted home, only to
have it land in a crib where a 19-month-old baby lay sleeping. The grenade exploded in the baby's face,
burning his face, lacerating his chest, and leaving him paralyzed. He is currently in the hospital in a medically induced coma.
"Where too was the outrage when a Minnesota SWAT team raided the wrong house in the middle of the night,
handcuffed the three young children, held the mother on the floor at
gunpoint, shot the family dog, and then "forced the handcuffed children
to sit next to the carcass of their dead pet and bloody pet for more
than an hour" while they searched the home?"
Okay, that was rude. Anyone who visits my website and reads my blogs is obviously
the textbook definition of completely sane, as well as being beautiful, intelligent, and beyond reproach.
But the other day, the picture you see here was posted on Facebook, aptly titled
along the lines of: "Can you believe this? Why do they need this in
Doraville, GA?"
Okay . . . I completely agree with that sentiment. Doraville, GA is a sleepy town with less than 8,500 people. Why do they need a military tank?
But let me be candid: What really prompts me to throw in my three cents here is
some lady who commented on the Facebook posting. I won't name this
person, because I don't want to hurt her feelings or tarnish her
reputation, even though it's patently obvious she's too stupid to boil
water. But what she said was mind-boggling, idiotic, horrifying, and at
the same time revealing of a mentality that seems to be metastasizing.
Paraphrasing . . .
"Of course, they need this. What if it was your daughter who was kidnapped,
and being held hostage. They could use it to save her!"
Where do we begin?
Right off, let me point out that armored vehicles like this only protect the people inside them, the law enforcement officials charged with leading an assault against
well-armed adversaries, be they bank robbers, terrorists, kidnappers, or
rampaging postal clerks.
They do not protect hostages!
Next let me invoke my credentials as a novelist, using a degree of creative
license and just a bare minimum of imagination, to explain to this mentally challenged lady what I would have a kidnapper character of my creation do
if the police showed up in this tank. I can't claim much originality,
since this is usually how this sort of scene plays out in real life.
Right off, my psychopathic antagonist would give them notice: "Listen, you short
bus meter maids. You've got one minute to turn that 8 ton hunk of steel
around and beat a retreat, or I put a bullet in the girl's pretty head!"
Then, if whoever was in charge of the operation didn't get the message, instead
deciding to proceed with their fool's errand, my character would do
what any demented kidnapping psychotic would do. As the tank approached
the house, he would have one final going away fling by raping the girl,
capping off a quick but satisfying skrog by capping her (i.e. refer to
bullet allusion above), then blowing his own brains out, because even
though he's crazy, he's got pride, thus has no intention of being
captured and humiliated by a bunch of hayseed sheriffs in some backwater county in Texas or Missouri or Georgia.
So, lady who sees all the potential merits in having gear designed for use by our military on the battlefield in the hands of knucklehead local bumpkin
Andy Griffith police, whaddya think? How did that work out?
What is going on in America?
What logic prompts this kind of overkill?
What possible constructive purpose is there to the federal government giving __ handing over free of charge! __ $500,000,000 worth of heavy-duty military battlefield equipment to local law enforcement agencies, as it did in FY 2011?
First of all, the escalation of weaponry, that is, getting bigger and badder
machine guns, flame throwers, grenades, tanks and assault vehicles, just
ends up piling up more dead bodies, in increasingly smaller chunks of
human remains.
Second, what happened to American ingenuity? You remember that, I'm sure. It's using the grey matter crammed into our skulls to figure out ways of
solving problems. In the hostage situation above, for example, crisis
management teams have psychologists and negotiators. They have marksmen
or stealth experts who can climb through heating ducts, and who knows,
maybe ways of making themselves invisible. What we have there is mind
power at work, as opposed to fire power. Which again alludes to the
simple fact, generally heavy artillery is not the best way of
extricating a frail young creature from a hostage situation __ at least
in one piece and still breathing.
So what is all of this stuff for? Why do small towns now have vehicles that was designed for use in Afghanistan, not the corn belt or even the most violent urban areas of America? Why is the Department of Defense giving this stuff to local police units?
I think I know. But before I get into it __ that will be in Part 3 __ I would love to hear your
comments. Please stick to the topic. I don't want any 2nd Amendment
raving or political rants from either end of the spectrum. Please just
explain . . .
Why are the local police being militarized in America?
[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
